Jacques Buteux

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Jacques Buteux (1600–1652) was a French Jesuit who became a missionary in Canada. Born in Abbeville, Picardy, he was the son of a tanner. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1620, studied philosophy at La Flèche, and was ordained a priest in 1633. After teaching at Clermont, he sailed to New France and arrived in Quebec in June 1634. He worked at the Trois-Rivières trading post, which connected French traders with the Montagnais, Algonquin and Huron. As the mission grew, more Masses in French were needed beyond the small chapel.

In 1641 he was joined by colleagues Jean de Quen and Joseph Poncet. He helped promote a native settlement at Cap de la Madeleine, which became a town after 1649.

Buteux also served at Sillery in 1642 and visited Tadoussac from 1644 to 1647. On April 4, 1651, he left for the Saint-Pierre mission north of Trois-Rivières with a young Frenchman and a Huron named Tsondoutannen. They were ambushed by Iroquois; Buteux was killed, two bullets to the chest and a shattered arm, and the young Frenchman Pierre Fontarabie also died. Tsondoutannen escaped to tell the tale, and their bodies were thrown into the St. Maurice River.

Buteux left behind letters and parish records that help historians understand his time in Canada. Today, his memory is honored by schools named after him in Trois-Rivières and La Tuque, a street in La Tuque, and a 12.9 km section of a National Trail. The Shawinigan brewery Le Trou du Diable even created an abbey-style beer in his honor.